Special Event

NEH Resource Collection

The Bridging Cultures website from the National Endowment for the Humanities hosts the companion resource pages for the American Stories theme highlighted by Alden Library. Each theme is explored in an extended essay. Each book and film is described and connected by links with its collection.

The Purpose of this Guide

15th century map of Andalucia and Granada, Iberian locus of classical Islamic culture. Image from the NEH.

Alden Library has received a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities to "introduce the American public to the complex history and culture of Muslims in the United States and around the world," as the NEH states. The NEH and its partner the American Library Association have provided us with a rich collection of books, DVDs and graphical materials on the Muslim world.

This Guide is intended as a brief overview of the sources and services to which you have access in looking at these civilzations, so vital to the formation of the modern world.

American Stories

Alden Library's theme for our Muslim Journeys programs will be American Stories. Please join us in discovering how Muslims have contributed to the great democratic experiment that is the U.S.A.

Our Muslim Journeys Bookshelf addresses the needs and desires of our learning community for trustworthy, timely and accessible sources on Muslim beliefs and practices, and on the cultural heritage of Islamic civilizations. Many of the Bookshelf titles are by and about Muslims in the U.S. Browse the Bookshelf here.

Read more about the nationwide 2013 Muslim Journeys efforts here, and join us in discovering the richness of Islamic civilizations.

U.S.A. City and Town Names Pay Homage to Islamic Civilization

What do these U.S. cities and towns have in common?

Albuquerque, New Mexico

Alhambra, California

Gibraltar, Wisconsin

Guadalupe, Arizona

La Jara, Colorado

Their names are derived from the Arabic language. Many of Spain's geographic names owe their origins to the centuries of Islamic settlement of the peninsula. Especially in the West- and Southwest United States, Spanish colonists used the names of their Iberian communities and the homeland's geographic features for their new settlements.

Town names beginning Guada- or Guade- , for instance, are derived from wadi, the Arabic word for valley or waterbed.

Alhambra, California, even pays homage to the Moorish palace in Spain after which it is named with the Gateway Monument:

See the Related Guide

East Asia and Southeast Asia are home to millions of Muslims, and in fact the largest Muslim-majority nation is Indonesia. A related NEH-funded project is providing QCC with resources on the civilizations of this vast region.

Central Jakarta, capital city of Indonesia. Photo by Nusantaratravelagent.com via Government of Indonesia.